A GUIDE FOR VOTING BY ABSENTEE BALLOT
WHAT IS ABSENTEE VOTING?
Under special circumstances, voters are allowed to cast their ballots prior to election day, either by mail or in the municipal clerk's office. This process is called absentee voting.
WHO QUALIFIES FOR ABSENTEE VOTING?
Persons eligible to vote in their town, village, or city are eligible to cast and absentee ballot only if they meet one of these conditions:
1. They expect to be absent from the municipality on election day.
2. They cannot appear at the polling place on election day because of:
-Age (at least 70 years old)
-Sickness, nursing home confinement, or hospitalization
-Handicap or physical disability
-Jury Duty
-Service as an election official
-Religious reasons
-College or university students currently residing away from their home (Students have the option of registering to vote and voting in their home district or at their college or university district if they are living away from home, but in no case can they vote in both districts.)
-U.S. citizens and their spouses or dependents whose permanent residence is New Haven but who will temporarily be residing abroad on election day.
-U.S. citizens and their spouses or dependents, who maintained a residence in New Haven immediately prior to their departure from the United States.
-Changing residences within the state by moving to a different ward or municipality less than 10 days before the election.
3. Members of the military and their spouses and dependents whether serving in the United States or abroad are eligible to vote in every election. They do not have to be registered voters. Military includes: army, navy, air force, marine corps, coast guard, commissioned corps of the federal public health service, and the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration.
HOW TO OBTAIN AN ABSENTEE BALLOT
All persons wishing to vote absentee must request an absentee ballot in writing from their municipal clerk in the town, village, or city where they are eligible to vote. The request may be made as early as the first day of the sixth month before any election. The last day to make a request in writing to have your ballot mailed to you is the Friday before the election. If the absentee elector wishes to vote in the clerk's office, the deadline is 5:00 P.M. on the day before the election.
The request may be on a special Application for Absentee Ballot form, federal Post Card Application form, or in a letter stating your name, voting address, address where the ballot should be mailed, and reason for requesting an absentee ballot. The letter must be signed by the elector. No person can request an absentee ballot for another elector. A request received by FAX is acceptable, but the original request must also be mailed.
To receive an automatic ballot for each election, you must mark section 2 of the Application for Absentee Ballot.
SPECIAL NOTE: if you fail to vote in any election, your name will be dropped and you will have to reapply.
ABSENTEE VOTING BY MAIL
The most common method of obtaining an absentee ballot is through mail delivery. Upon receipt of a completed application for an absentee ballot, the clerk will mail a ballot to the voter. Follow all enclosed instructions and make sure to vote in private. A voted absentee ballot must be returned to the municipal clerk in the Certificate-Affidavit Absentee Ballot Envelope provided. Be sure to fill out the Certificate-Affidavit and have your signature notarized by a notary or person authorized to administer oaths or by two witnesses. It must arrive in time for the clerk to deliver the ballot to the proper polling place on election day before the closing hour.
ABSENTEE VOTING IN PERSON
Any qualified voter may cast an absentee ballot in person in the office of the municipal clerk when ballots are available. Absentee voting in person is conducted up to 2:00 P.M. the day before an election. An absentee ballot cannot be issued without first receiving a written request from the elector.
HOSPITALIZED ELECTOR
If you are hospitalized on election day, you may vote absentee by agent. Section 3 of the Application for Absentee Ballot must be completed by the voter naming an agent. The agent must be an elector of the voter's municipality. When the request is presented to the clerk, an absentee ballot will be given to the agent for delivery to the voter. An application cannot be made earlier than 7 days before an election and must be made no later than 5:00 P.M. on election day. The ballot may be returned by mail or personally by the agent and arrive in time for the clerk to deliver the ballot to the proper polling place on election day before the closing hour.
SEQUESTERED JUROR
A sequestered juror may make application for an absentee ballot up until 5:00 P.M. on the day of the election. The municipal clerk or clerk's agent will deliver the ballot to the court in which the elector is serving as a juror. The ballot is given to the judge, who, as soon as convenient, recesses the court to allow the juror to vote. The Certificate-Affidavit Absentee Ballot envelope is notarized by the judge and is returned to the clerk or agent for delivery to the polling place before the closing hour.
RESIDENTS OF NURSING HOMES, RETIREMENT HOMES AND COMMUNITY-BASED RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES
All nursing home residents desiring to vote must make a written application. Special voting deputies will deliver the ballots to the nursing home residents sometime between the 4th Monday before the election. They are authorized to assist the elector in marking his or her ballot, upon request. Only a special voting deputy or relative of the elector may assist the elector in voting.
Voting at retirement homes and community-based residential facilities may be conducted in the same manner as voting at nursing homes if the clerk determines the need for it.
MILITARY AND OVERSEAS ELECTORS
Military and overseas voters may apply for an absentee ballot on the official government postcard (Federal Post Card Application), which is available at overseas bases, embassies and consulates. A request received by FAX is acceptable. The ballot and voting instructions may be FAXed back to the voter, however, the voter must return the ballot by mail in order to protect the secrecy of the ballot.
A write-in absentee ballot will be sent to all military and federal overseas electors who have requested one. This ballot does not contain the names of any candidates, only the offices that are up for election. If a referendum question is known at the time of preparation, it will be included on the ballot. The write-in ballot offers the military and federal overseas electors an opportunity to cast a ballot early so that it may be returned to the clerk in time for counting on election day.
This write-in ballot does not take the place of an official ballot. As soon as the official ballots are printed, the clerk sends the same military and federal overseas electors an official ballot. If the official ballot is returned before the polls close on election day, the official ballot will be the one counted.
Overseas electors who have no present intent to return to New Haven may vote for federal offices only.
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TO OBTAIN AN ABSENTEE BALLOT, CONTACT YOUR MUNICIPAL CLERK:
TOWN OF NEW HAVEN CLERK Berniece Tangney (608) 253-3771